http://m.dothaneagle.com/army_flier/new ... l?mode=jqmThis ceremony had an even greater significance than most others. After all, CW5 Karl H. Maier and CW5 George “Billy” Cook had more than 70-years of combined Army Service — with more than 50 of those years spent as Night Stalkers.
“During Gothic Serpent, Karl was awarded the Silver Star for his role in the mission,” one flight lead said. “The only thing he cared about was, ‘Well if I’m getting this, what are the rest of my guys receiving?’ He was always thinking about others. Even during our mission briefs, with every decision made, his first thought was how will this affect the guys on my crew?”
“I often talk about Karl, describing him as the hero who landed the Little Bird in the streets of Mogadishu to save the Ranger unit – the ultimate expression of courage in my book,” said Maj. Gen. (P) Kevin W. Mangum, former 160th SOAR commander and having just changed command as the Aviation Branch Commander. “And as the consummate and quiet professional, Karl successfully resisted telling his story to anybody who would ask, for over 20 years.
“In a tightknit community where uncommon valor is a common virtue and reputation is quickly known, you would be hard-pressed to find any operator who garners as much universal recognition as Billy Cook,” he said.
“We always say that no one is so important that if you left today someone isn’t going to be able to backfill you,” one said in closing. “But Karl and Billy don’t fall into that. Trying to replace them is going to be impossible. Guys will continue to progress professionally and do all those things. We will all take a little bit from those guys to try to make ourselves better, but collectively to try to capture everything that they knew, a single person won’t be able to do that for either one of those guys.”
Incredible careers. Thanks for your service, gentlemen.
